European Solidarity Corps: Applying Instructions

If you are aged at 18–30 years and living in Finland, apply for European Solidarity Corps volunteering abroad! You can apply both to the open positions of Maailmanvaihto’s co-operation organisations and open positions in the European Youth Portal.

1) Apply for the open Europan Solidarity Corps positions of Maailmanvaihto’s co-operation organisations

Many young people have participated through Maailmanvaihto in the European Solidarity Corps or the preceding EU-supported volunteering program. Through this co-operation, we at Maailmanvaihto are familiar with many of the organisations of the European Solidarity Corps. Several volunteers have traveled to some of them through Maailmanvaihto over the years.

We are a member of the International Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE) Federation. Within the Federation, the European Solidarity Corps volunteering periods are coordinated by our partners in Iceland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Turkey, and Russia.

We will bring forward open positions for the European Solidarity Corps volunteering on our page of Open Posititions for European Solidarity Corps volunteering (in Finnish) as well as in our monthly newsletter (in Finnish). >> Subscribe the newsletter (MailChimp)

2) Apply for European Solidarity Corps volunteering through the European Youth Portal

The European Youth Portal includes a database of open positions for the European Solidarity Corps. You are welcome to browse through the positions without registering.

In order to apply for the positions, you must register yourself for the European Solidarity Corps in the portal. The registration doesn’t oblige you to anything. After registering:

• Introduce yourself in your profile. Fill in your information carefully because your profile will be your introduction when applying for the positions.
• Browse, choose, and apply. Browse through open positions and apply for those that interest you. There may be many applicants, so it’s worth applying for multiple positions.
• If a voluntary workplace is interested in welcoming you as a volunteer, they will contact you after which you can get to know each other better. If you would like to accept the offered position so that Maailmanvaihto would be your supporting sending organisation in Finland, please give our information for the voluntary workplace:
  • Name: Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland
  • E-mail: maailmanvaihto@maailmanvaihto.fi
  • Phone number: +358 452 5660
  • Contact person: Secretary General Anni Koskela
  • PIC: 946737364
  • OID: E10126971
  • Quality Label: 2021-1-FI01-ESC50-092838
• Then, contact us at Maailmanvaihto and tell us about the offer you have received. You can reach us at maailmanvaihto@maailmanvaihto.fi.
• Let’s agree on the co-operation. We will be in contact with the volunteer workplace and you in order to learn more about the possible co-operation. If everything seems good and suitable for all parties, let’s agree on the co-operation.

Once you have registered yourself to the European Solidarity Corps, the voluntary workplaces may contact you and suggest co-operation even if you haven’t applied for the open positions. In this case, you can freely choose whether you will take the offer.

When should I apply for volunteering? What will happen once the co-operation is confirmed?

Once your voluntary workplace has been confirmed and we have agreed that we’ll work as your sending support organisation, the receiving organisation(s) and us at Maailmanvaihto, in co-operation with you, will apply for funding for your volunteering period. The funding will be applied through the National Agency of the European Solidarity Corps either in your destination country or in Finland. If needed, we’ll support you and your voluntary workplace in keeping in touch with each other.

It is worth applying for volunteering half a year before the planned starting date at the latest.

• The EU has a few deadlines during the year for submitting project funding applications for the volunteering periods.
• Typically, voluntary workplaces will choose their volunteers about one month before submitting the funding application.
• The decisions for funding applications will typically be given after about two months from the deadline for submitting the applications.
• Volunteering periods can usually begin 3–8 months after the deadline for submitting the funding application.